"So, what's your plan, Hayama? This school's football club has been a mess for a long time. There must have been freshmen like you before who had the same idea, but obviously, no one has succeeded yet." Hachiman was planning to help Hayama with this. In the time he had known him, he found Hayato to be an excellent person (and tool), and felt he should do something for him. Of course, that was contingent on Hayama showing his own determination.
"I have to find people on the team who share my ideals," Hayama said with a wry smile, clearly aware of the difficult road ahead. "I don't think everyone is willing to give up; they just lack the courage to try. I'm willing to give them that. After that, I may have to negotiate with the school. No, rather than negotiation, it will probably be more like begging."
"Hayama," Hachiman asked out of the blue, "if a field like this were planted with artificial turf, how much would it cost to maintain it every month?"
"Uh... I think, including labor costs, it would be about two hundred thousand yen," Hayama concluded after a rough calculation.
"Well then, Hayama, you can expect that an alumnus who cares about the development of Sobu High football will be contacting the school soon. He is willing to donate two hundred and fifty thousand yen a month to support the construction of the football field. That's enough for a qualified artificial turf field that can be well-maintained all the time."
"Of course, changing the field is just the beginning," Hachiman continued, speaking slowly so Hayama could fully understand. "If Sobu's football program is to develop, the students in the club need to work harder. The new field will provide a comfortable training environment and might change their lazy habits to some extent. But that will require a strong club leader who can unite the team."
"If you are willing to take on that responsibility, Hayama, then that alumnus will be willing to contribute the money. Of course, improving the football level of Sobu High isn't something that can be done in a year or two, but at least this can be a good start."
"Hikigaya-san, why... no, why would that alumnus do this?" Hayato asked in disbelief. The normally calm and composed boy seemed at a loss.
"It's hard to say," Hachiman said with a shrug. "Maybe he respects people who pursue their dreams. Maybe he also loves football. Or maybe he just has too much money and wants to spend it. Who knows?"
In the first year at Sobu High, apart from the International Liberal Arts Course, which was assigned to Class J, the remaining 270 students were randomly assigned to the other classes. After the first year, students would be streamed into arts and science classes and reassigned.
Unsurprisingly, Hachiman was once again in a class where he knew no one. He thought this was normal; after all, he didn't have many acquaintances. Yukino was in the international course and was destined not to be in the same class as him.
"Everyone, please find your seats according to your number as soon as possible! We have one hour before we need to go to the hall for the opening ceremony, and we still have a lot to do before then!" The person speaking from the podium was Hachiman's new homeroom teacher, Ms. Shizuka Hiratsuka.
"As you can see, my name is Shizuka Hiratsuka. I teach Japanese, and I will be the homeroom teacher of Class F for the rest of the year."
Teacher Hiratsuka was a heroic-looking woman, and her every move was full of vigor. In fact, she had also been Yukinoshita Haruno's homeroom teacher, and the two had a very good personal relationship. Haruno could even call her by her first name, "Shizuka."
Originally, Haruno had planned to find an opportunity for Hiratsuka and Hachiman to meet in advance so that he would have a reliable person to look after him in high school. However, Haruno always felt that her junior had an inexplicable attraction to older women, and Hiratsuka happened to be a high-quality, older, unmarried woman, so it was hard to say what might happen. The matter was left unresolved, with Haruno just calling Hiratsuka a few days before school started to mention him.
"Since you've all chosen Sobu High," Hiratsuka continued, "it means you are not only excellent academically but also have very strict requirements for yourselves. As you know, this school is quite strict with its academic management. The detailed school rules will be explained at the opening ceremony. Please keep them in mind. Now, starting with seat number one, all students will introduce themselves one by one."
The self-introduction session was very ordinary, and no one left a particularly deep impression. It was either because everyone was still a bit nervous on the first day, or because these excellent students genuinely didn't want to stand out.
I don't see anything special about this Hikigaya Hachiman, Shizuka Hiratsuka thought as she led the students to the ceremony hall, silently observing the boy Haruno had mentioned. But since he's a student Haruno likes, I should pay more attention to him. She didn't feel he was any different from the other students, except, perhaps, for his dead eyes.
Soon, however, she discovered something extraordinary about this student.
"Yukinoshita? Why are you standing out here? Why don't you go inside and sit down?"
Hachiman had spotted Yukinoshita Yukino standing in the corridor and asked with some curiosity. She didn't speak, but simply waved the speech manuscript in her hand with a little show-off.
"Okay, okay, I know you're the freshman representative. Just don't get nervous when you go on stage."
"I'm not at a point where I'd get stage fright from speaking in front of students. You should go inside and sit down to listen to my speech, fourth-place student."
The two spoke in low voices, standing very close, with natural smiles on their faces. The image was like a pair of large hands strangling Shizuka Hiratsuka's neck, making this teacher, who harbored a great deal of malice toward happy couples, feel a little breathless.